Washington (KINY) – This week, U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), co-chair of the CECC, introduced the Hong Kong Judicial Sanctions Act, which would hold officials of Hong Kong’s judiciary accountable for human rights violations and support Hong Kongers facing persecution under Beijing’s “national security law.”
The Hong Kong Judicial Sanctions Act requires the President to determine whether certain Hong Kong officials violated human rights and whether sanctions should be imposed in accordance with the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, or the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.
Representatives Young Kim (Calif.-40), Jim McGovern (Mass.-02), and John Curtis (Utah-03) introduced companion legislation in the House.
“We all know Hong Kong’s judiciary isn’t the source of pride and independence it used to be,” said Senator Dan Sullivan. “Since the 2019 – 2020 crackdown, the judiciary in Hong Kong has become an instrument of the CCP to target innocent civilians. My colleagues and I are introducing legislation to focus the Biden administration’s attention on this insidious aspect of the CCP’s takeover of Hong Kong and the regime’s flagrant violation of the civil rights and autonomy promised to Hong Kongers in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The Biden administration must let Beijing and their CCP lackeys in Hong Kong know that we are not fooled for a second.”
